Jammy Goes Whaling for a Show

I sat down with Jammy last week at one of his new favorite haunts, The Thai House on 7th, to discuss life, golf, and how the Kiva Cup relates to 'Whale Wars'.

Jammy, it’s good to see you again. What’s good here?

Hey, it’s good to be seen. Thanks for spending time on the Kiva Cup again this year. Try the Chicken Masaman. Tasty.

The pleasure is all mine. Thanks for the suggestion and congrats on the new addition. You and your wife added a new baby to the family.

Thank you, we sure did. A little girl born in January. Perfectly sweet little bundle of chill. Little Jack is as proud of her as anyone, and she thinks he hung the moon.

Has being a two-time dad cut in to the time you have to play and practice?

Oddly enough, no. She is the chillest little child ever, and of course Jack is 4 now and well behaved most of the time, so Leah lets me slip out a couple times a month to play, and I can usually get to a driving range on the weekends that I don’t play. I also bought a chipping net and chipping mat that I use in the yard when I have a few minutes of downtime, so I wouldn’t say that it’s hampered my time that much.

I hear you got new irons?

Yes I did. G15 irons from PING. Four iron thru utility wedge. I like them. They employ about 20 years of technology advancements over the Eye-2s that I was playing. My misses are better with the G15s than with my previous clubs.

Anything else new in the bag?

Actually, because of the added distance of the G15s combined with the ease of striking, I am able to hit my 4 iron about the same distance as I hit the 22 degree hybrid that I was carrying. So, I was able to replace that hybrid with a G15 3-wood. I also went ahead and added the G15 sand wedge to the set so that I would have a finesse club to hit within 50 yards of the green. I still carry the Cleveland sand wedge for bunker play, so I’m at the full 14 club limit.

Has all that new equipment helped you?

At times. I’ve broken 100 a few times this summer. I’ve had several rounds that should have been, or at least could have been, in the 80s, but just got away from me on a couple of holes where I had mental lapses and took a 7 or an 8. I feel good about where I am right now. I need some more practice. I need to keep more balls in play off the tee, but 8 weeks out, I’m okay.

Have you been working with anyone?

Well, I started working with Captain Burnett..

TEAM EUROPE CAPTAIN BURNETT?!?!

Yes, that Captain Burnett. He bills himself as the ‘Common Man Coach’, which I need because I don’t understand when real golf people tell me to “shift your weight back, but not your body, and then lean it as your hips rotate through on the target line and finish with a full release.” What does that even mean? Brian just tells me to “try to hit it right back up the middle. Knock the pitcher’s hat off!” That means something to me. I can understand that. He really has helped me.

I’ve also been working with CIW Skiba and the Medicus swing trainer thingy. They’ve both given me some tips and pointers, I just need to go out and work on some things. Like I said, I really need to work on keeping the ball in play off the tee. If I’m in the fairway off the tee, I’ll accept a concession before we leave the tee box. I’m a sportsman like that.

Let’s shift to a different topic. You’ve really stepped up the effort to promote the Kiva Cup this year. Why?

To be honest, the actual golfing is a lot like work for me. Kiva Dunes is a hard course. There are holes out there that I struggle to finish. For me, the most enjoyable aspects of the Kiva Cup are the build up to the actual event, the team dynamics, and the social aspect of getting together to watch football and enjoy a co-cola after the Saturday singles matches.

We joke about it, but the Kiva Cup would make an excellent TV show for The Golf Channel or Turner SportsSouth or some one. I’m not talking about a 22 week show, but between the planning lunches, the pairings party, the trips to the Deuce and the Parrot Club, and the actual golf matches, you could easily squeeze at least 8 episodes out of the Kiva Cup. All that we need for this event are cameras to film it. We have the characters, we have the drama, we have the personality clashes, we certainly have the conflict, and we have the perfect setting in Kiva Dunes. This would really make a great short run reality program. I’d watch it if I wasn’t playing in it. So, maybe some one reads this and decides to make us all TV stars. Of course, my swing would be put on TV, and I don’t know how I feel about that, but maybe it would lead to me being Hank Haney’s next project.

Really?

Yes. I promise it would be better television than Ice Road Truckers. Well, we have no answer for Lisa Kelly, so maybe not, but it would be better television than Whale Wars. Admiral Watson and the Sea Shepherds are doing a great work down in the southern ocean, but let’s be honest, all they do is throw butyric acid at the whaling ships and troll around off the Nisshin Maru’s stern. You going to tell me that an all square match between Skibo and Hawk going to 17 at Kiva Dunes wouldn’t make better television?

Interesting. If your golf game was a ship on Whale Wars, which ship would you be?

The Ady Gill. Off to a fast start and then I sink before the campaign really gets going.

Who is Europe’s Nisshin Maru?

The easy answer is Hawk, but really, it’s been said for years and it’s true, “how goes Dalton, so goes the Kiva Cup”. If you want to stop Team Europe’s whaling, you’ve got to stop the R. Dalton Huguley factory ship.

Was the decision to expand to 8 man teams a good one?

For Team Europe, yes, I think that it was. They get to bring back Dalton, the King of Kiva, and they’ve added another single digit handicap to their roster. I don’t know if it was a good decision for Team USA. In the latest edition of Golf Digest, there was a sidebar graphic that showed the odds of lower handicap players winning in matches against higher handicap players. The odds are ALWAYS in favor of the lower handicap player, even with stroke consideration. To expand the teams to eight just dilutes Team USA’s ability to go on an early run, because it puts MORE players with higher handicaps in play. So, last year for example, Team USA was up 3-0 or 2-1 after day one. This year, I think the best that we can hope for is to be 3-1 or 2-2 after day one. It’s no secret that Team Europe tries to get the Kiva Cup to the Singles matches, where they have a decided advantage. I think expanding teams to eight members increased Europe’s ability to get to Saturday singles in good shape.

Any problem filling the 8th spot on Team USA?

None whatsoever. It is taken care of.

Who is it?

I honestly do not know. I’m not privy to such information.

Anything else?

No, not really. If Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Bay or Bunim-Murray Production or that guy that does Big Break wants in on the ground floor of the Kiva Cup reality show, give me a call.

Good luck in October.

Thanks.